Local search marketing means investing time and effort into tactics that help your website increase visibility in searches performed by people in your local area. It makes no sense going national with your keyword planning and strategy. You are not likely to see people from another city coming to your chiropractic practice. In this article, we will explain how Google My Business (GMB) posts can help your practice get found online by potential patients living near you.
What Are GMB Posts?
Your Google My Business listing has a section for sharing posts. The guidelines for effective GMB posts published by Google say that they should be:
• High quality: check your content for typos and grammatical errors, make sure that it is easy to read
• Respectful: do not use offensive language, images and videos
• Safe: do not post links from websites you do not trust, that may contain viruses or phishing
• No phone numbers: you cannot add a phone number (either clickable or in plain text)
• Family friendly: no adult content allowed.
In order to enforce these rules, Google may review a post before publishing it on your GMB listing. Thus, do not be alarmed if you see that your newly added post is pending approval – it is a routine check for Google.
Types of GMB Posts You Can Create
Now that you know the do’s and don’ts for GMB posts, let us explain to you what kind of content you can share and how it relates to your local search marketing strategy.
At the present, you can share six types of Google My Business posts:
1. COVID-19 Updates
2. Offers
3. Products
4. What’s New
5. Events
6. Hours Update.
From the point of view of local search marketing, you should focus on this type of posts:
1. What’s New Posts
You should not abuse this kind of GMB posts for every little change in your chiropractic practice. However, you can share important information, such as:
• New chiropractor joining your practice
• Moving to a new location
• New type of therapy your offer (for children, athletes, elderly people, etc.)
• New insurance provider you accept.
To make this posts work for your local search marketing, pay the same attention to them as you would your blog posts. Thus, remember to:
• Add your relevant keywords
• Include local keywords: near me, in (city name), close to (neighborhood)
• Add a CTA at the end of the post.
2. Offers
Everyone loves a special offer, especially if they are about to try something for the first time. Discounts on the first treatment session represent one of the most effective GMB posts to share.
You should consider the potential new clients you will attract for the long run by offering them a rebate on your regular tariffs for one-two sessions. These are not cuts in your margins, but smart investments into a thriving client base. Plus, with proper local search optimization, your practice will gain free exposure to people in your area.
3. Events
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, people’s expectations of events have changed. It does not have to be an in-person event anymore. You can create such a post announcing a webinar or a live Q&A session on your Facebook page.
You can be certain that you will get a lot of attendees. Taking the time to talk to people about what you can do for them and answering their questions will earn you a lot of good will. Many people who could benefit from chiropractic still do not understand what it is. With your help, they will know and gain trust in you.
GMB Posts are very useful for letting existing patients know about important aspects concerning your practice and for local search marketing. Our SEO experts are ready to assist you if you do not have the time to write them!